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U.S. Code as of:
01/19/04
Section 7140. Mentoring programs
(a) Purpose; definitions
(1) Purpose
The purpose of this section is to make assistance available to
promote mentoring programs for children with greatest need -
(A) to assist such children in receiving support and guidance
from a mentor;
(B) to improve the academic achievement of such children;
(C) to improve interpersonal relationships between such
children and their peers, teachers, other adults, and family
members;
(D) to reduce the dropout rate of such children; and
(E) to reduce juvenile delinquency and involvement in gangs
by such children.
(2) Definitions
In this part:
(A) Child with greatest need
The term "child with greatest need" means a child who is at
risk of educational failure, dropping out of school, or
involvement in criminal or delinquent activities, or who lacks
strong positive role models.
(B) Eligible entity
The term "eligible entity" means -
(i) a local educational agency;
(ii) a nonprofit, community-based organization; or
(iii) a partnership between a local educational agency and
a nonprofit, community-based organization.
(C) Mentor
The term "mentor" means a responsible adult, a postsecondary
school student, or a secondary school student who works with a
child -
(i) to provide a positive role model for the child;
(ii) to establish a supportive relationship with the child;
and
(iii) to provide the child with academic assistance and
exposure to new experiences and examples of opportunity that
enhance the ability of the child to become a responsible
adult.
(D) State
The term "State" means each of the several States, the
District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the
United States Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.
(b) Grant program
(1) In general
The Secretary may award grants from funds made available to
carry out this subpart under section 7103(2) of this title to
eligible entities to assist such entities in establishing and
supporting mentoring programs and activities for children with
greatest need that -
(A) are designed to link such children (particularly children
living in rural areas, high-crime areas, or troubled home
environments, or children experiencing educational failure)
with mentors who -
(i) have received training and support in mentoring;
(ii) have been screened using appropriate reference checks,
child and domestic abuse record checks, and criminal
background checks; and
(iii) are interested in working with children with greatest
need; and
(B) are intended to achieve one or more of the following
goals with respect to children with greatest need:
(i) Provide general guidance.
(ii) Promote personal and social responsibility.
(iii) Increase participation in, and enhance the ability to
benefit from, elementary and secondary education.
(iv) Discourage illegal use of drugs and alcohol, violence,
use of dangerous weapons, promiscuous behavior, and other
criminal, harmful, or potentially harmful activity.
(v) Encourage participation in community service and
community activities.
(vi) Encourage setting goals and planning for the future,
including encouragement of graduation from secondary school
and planning for postsecondary education or training.
(viii) (!1) Discourage involvement in gangs.
(2) Use of funds
(A) In general
Each eligible entity awarded a grant under this subsection
shall use the grant funds for activities that establish or
implement a mentoring program, that may include -
(i) hiring of mentoring coordinators and support staff;
(ii) providing for the professional development of
mentoring coordinators and support staff;
(iii) recruitment, screening, and training of mentors;
(iv) reimbursement to schools, if appropriate, for the use
of school materials or supplies in carrying out the mentoring
program;
(v) dissemination of outreach materials;
(vi) evaluation of the mentoring program using
scientifically based methods; and
(vii) such other activities as the Secretary may reasonably
prescribe by rule.
(B) Prohibited uses
Notwithstanding subparagraph (A), an eligible entity awarded
a grant under this section may not use the grant funds -
(i) to directly compensate mentors;
(ii) to obtain educational or other materials or equipment
that would otherwise be used in the ordinary course of the
eligible entity's operations;
(iii) to support litigation of any kind; or
(iv) for any other purpose reasonably prohibited by the
Secretary by rule.
(3) Availability of funds
Funds made available through a grant under this section shall
be available for obligation for a period not to exceed 3 years.
(4) Application
Each eligible entity seeking a grant under this section shall
submit to the Secretary an application that includes -
(A) a description of the plan for the mentoring program the
eligible entity proposes to carry out with such grant;
(B) information on the children expected to be served by the
mentoring program for which such grant is sought;
(C) a description of the mechanism the eligible entity will
use to match children with mentors based on the needs of the
children;
(D) an assurance that no mentor will be assigned to mentor so
many children that the assignment will undermine the mentor's
ability to be an effective mentor or the mentor's ability to
establish a close relationship (a one-to-one relationship,
where practicable) with each mentored child;
(E) an assurance that the mentoring program will provide
children with a variety of experiences and support, including -
(i) emotional support;
(ii) academic assistance; and
(iii) exposure to experiences that the children might not
otherwise encounter on their own;
(F) an assurance that the mentoring program will be monitored
to ensure that each child assigned a mentor benefits from that
assignment and that the child will be assigned a new mentor if
the relationship between the original mentor and the child is
not beneficial to the child;
(G) information regarding how mentors and children will be
recruited to the mentoring program;
(H) information regarding how prospective mentors will be
screened;
(I) information on the training that will be provided to
mentors; and
(J) information on the system that the eligible entity will
use to manage and monitor information relating to the mentoring
program's -
(i) reference checks;
(ii) child and domestic abuse record checks;
(iii) criminal background checks; and
(iv) procedure for matching children with mentors.
(5) Selection
(A) Competitive basis
In accordance with this subsection, the Secretary shall award
grants to eligible entities on a competitive basis.
(B) Priority
In awarding grants under subparagraph (A), the Secretary
shall give priority to each eligible entity that -
(i) serves children with greatest need living in rural
areas, high-crime areas, or troubled home environments, or
who attend schools with violence problems;
(ii) provides high quality background screening of mentors,
training of mentors, and technical assistance in carrying out
mentoring programs; or
(iii) proposes a school-based mentoring program.
(C) Other considerations
In awarding grants under subparagraph (A), the Secretary
shall also consider -
(i) the degree to which the location of the mentoring
program proposed by each eligible entity contributes to a
fair distribution of mentoring programs with respect to urban
and rural locations;
(ii) the quality of the mentoring program proposed by each
eligible entity, including -
(I) the resources, if any, the eligible entity will
dedicate to providing children with opportunities for job
training or postsecondary education;
(II) the degree to which parents, teachers,
community-based organizations, and the local community have
participated, or will participate, in the design and
implementation of the proposed mentoring program;
(III) the degree to which the eligible entity can ensure
that mentors will develop longstanding relationships with
the children they mentor;
(IV) the degree to which the mentoring program will serve
children with greatest need in the 4th through 8th grades;
and
(V) the degree to which the mentoring program will
continue to serve children from the 9th grade through
graduation from secondary school, as needed; and
(iii) the capability of each eligible entity to effectively
implement its mentoring program.
(D) Grant to each State
Notwithstanding any other provision of this subsection, in
awarding grants under subparagraph (A), the Secretary shall
select not less than one grant recipient from each State for
which there is an eligible entity that submits an application
of sufficient quality pursuant to paragraph (4).
(6) Model screening guidelines
(A) In general
Based on model screening guidelines developed by the Office
of Juvenile Programs of the Department of Justice, the
Secretary shall develop and distribute to each eligible entity
awarded a grant under this section specific model guidelines
for the screening of mentors who seek to participate in
mentoring programs assisted under this section.
(B) Background checks
The guidelines developed under this subsection shall include,
at a minimum, a requirement that potential mentors be subject
to reference checks, child and domestic abuse record checks,
and criminal background checks.
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